Beddu Amang arrested after brief spell on the lam

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Police arrested former State Logistics Agency (Bulog) head Beddu Amang on Sunday, just one day after he was declared a fugitive from justice, and immediately started questioning him over his role in a scam involving government livestock feed subsidies.

Beddu was apprehended as he was undergoing a medical examination in the Sumarno VIP room at the Dr. Soekanto Police Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, which was allowed to continue until 8:45 p.m, Antara reported. He had registered for the medical examination under his wife's name.

The questioning went ahead after doctors declared Beddu was fit to undergo interrogation as a suspect at National Police Headquarters on Jl. Trunojoyo, South Jakarta.

Beddu failed to answer a police summons on Friday and submitted a letter saying he needed a two-week rest due to ill health.

Police put Beddu, who has to serve a two-year jail term in another graft case, on their wanted list on Saturday after investigators failed to find him at his residence in Kemang, South Jakarta, on Friday.

Beddu was tightlipped as he completed his medical examination, after which he was escorted to a waiting Kijang van which brought him to National Police Headquarters.

It remained unclear why Beddu had not cooperated with the police investigation, but his lawyer Djoko Pabowo Saebani told reporters his client would cooperate with the police from now on in the investigation into a graft case that caused Rp 841 billion (US$99 million) in state losses.

Beddu's failure to turn up for police questioning had drawn public criticism that law enforcers were too lenient in dealing with suspects.

Legal analyst Hendardi had accused the former government official of trying to evade justice so that he could continue living his comfortable lifestyle.

"I think Beddu Amang is trying to avoid imprisonment, not just avoid police investigation," he said.

Last year, the police moved too late to execute a judgment sending businessman Samadikun Hartono to jail. Samadikun was eventually found to have fled overseas.

Kemas Yahya Rahman, spokesman for the Attorney General's Office (AGO), said the Attorney General's Office could not send Beddu to jail until it received a copy of the Supreme Court decision upholding the two year sentence handed down to Beddu for his role in a land swap scam in 2001.

The Jakarta Prosecutor's Office's deputy chief for special crimes, Marwan Effendi, said that his office had been informed by the South Jakarta District Court via facsimile regarding the Supreme Court's verdict.